Thanks for welcoming me to the community. I am glad to be apart of it. I am looking to get out to Yosemite in 2016 with my wife and have a couple questions regarding my planning.

First. I am finding great information on Yosemite online, but I am having difficult finding popular or recommended Loop trails or sectional multi-day hikes. I'm looking for a 4 night, 5 day hike. It doesn't have to be a loop, but I will have only one car or possibly no car. so as long as I can get back to the airport when I need to get home, I would be happy. Do people typically just buy a topography map and make up their own plan? I think i would prefer to follow someone that has already experienced a great 5 day hike that can recommend a route, but I just can't find this info online.

Second. How do people that travel from out the state typically get to the park? Fly into San Francisco and rent a car? Can you get to the state park without renting a car?

Thanks for the assistance and looking forward to getting out to the park!

Yosemite is a National Park, although it started out as a State Park in the 1800s.

There's no good public transportation into the park. The reality is rent a car. Fresno Yosemite Airport, FAT, is the closest, but has limited flights and the extra connection costs $$$$. I recommend San Francisco, SFO, or Oakland, OAK, airports--you can get good or at least reasonable airfares to SFO or OAK. Try to avoid arriving in the weekday rush hours if you can.

As for trails I'm not sure what you want. I recommend hiking up to Nevada Falls in Little Yosemite Valley. Hiking the trails in Yosemite Valley. Maybe Glacier Point to the Valley (or vice versa or round trip) on the Four Mile Trail. Hiking the south rim trails from Glacier Point. The Mariposa Grove of Sequoia Trees (or at least the Merced Grove). There's lots of wonderful high country trails that take off from Tuolumne Meadows--such as NW to Glen Aulin or South in Lyell Canyon, and around the vicinity of Tuolumne Meadows.

You can't really do a continuous hike and expect to back in a hotel each night. Or maybe you wish to Backpack? The area between and including Yosemite Valley and Tuolumne Meadows is the best. The John Muir Trail or similar lateral trails are good.

dan wrote:Yosemite is a National Park, although it started out as a State Park in the 1800s.

There's no good public transportation into the park. The reality is rent a car. Fresno Yosemite Airport, FAT, is the closest, but has limited flights and the extra connection costs $$$$. I recommend San Francisco, SFO, or Oakland, OAK, airports--you can get good or at least reasonable airfares to SFO or OAK. Try to avoid arriving in the weekday rush hours if you can.

As for trails I'm not sure what you want. I recommend hiking up to Nevada Falls in Little Yosemite Valley. Hiking the trails in Yosemite Valley. Maybe Glacier Point to the Valley (or vice versa or round trip) on the Four Mile Trail. Hiking the south rim trails from Glacier Point. The Mariposa Grove of Sequoia Trees (or at least the Merced Grove). There's lots of wonderful high country trails that take off from Tuolumne Meadows--such as NW to Glen Aulin or South in Lyell Canyon, and around the vicinity of Tuolumne Meadows.

You can't really do a continuous hike and expect to back in a hotel each night. Or maybe you wish to Backpack? The area between and including Yosemite Valley and Tuolumne Meadows is the best. The John Muir Trail or similar lateral trails are good.

Hi Dan, thanks for the info! sorry I didnt make that clear in my original post. Yes, I will be backpacking. I'm going to do some more research on the places you have mentioned here.

Probably the most classic and popular route in the park is the Tuolumne Meadows (Cathedral Lakes) to Happy Isles (Yosemite Valley) leg of the John Muir Trail. About 23 miles, 3-nights, and with a separate permit, it'll give you easier access to Half Dome, if that's also something you want to do. Shuttles are available to get you back to your car or to the trailhead from your car. Make a reservation well within 182 days of your planned trip because the quotas are reached early in the season, and you can find out more about the process and do it here:

In addition to the South Rim of the Valley, you should also consider the North Rim, which takes you up the Yosemite Falls Trail. For other thoughts and suggestions, pick up a copy of Yosemite National Park: A Complete hiker's Guide by Jeffrey Schaffer, published by Wilderness Press. I believe it still comes with an included map, but if it doesn't, or you want a better one, get a 1:63,360 scale map of the Yosemite High Country made by Tom Harrison. It should give you just about everything you need for your planning, as well as a functional map for the vast majority of the trails you might end up on.

It depends on when you go. During spring and summer you can fly to Merced and jump right on the YARTS bus to Yosemite. Fresno now has a YARTS schedule as well, and the buses depart near the airport. On the east side you can get YARTS from Mammoth, and if you fly into Reno or another east side city you can check the Eastern Sierra Transit Authority bus schedules to connect with YARTS there.

You could do part of the High Sierra Camp loop. Start at May Lake and work your way to Sunrise, and exit Happy Isles. Don't forget checking the box to add the additional permit if you have your heart set on Half Dome. (Clouds Rest is better, btw.)